Narendra Modi government to have consolidated ministries to improve coordination and implementation

Govt formation officially begins with PM designate’s letter to President containing names of council of ministers, after the would-be ministers are informed.

NEW DELHI: The Narendra Modi-led government that will be sworn in on Monday could be very different and smaller than recent ones. Late on Sunday evening, ahead of Cabinet formation, the information department of the Gujarat government issued a detailed statement — "Shri Narendra Modi has made a Dent in Formation of Ministries" — that appeared to anticipate the shape of the incoming administration which assumes office on Monday evening.

"For the first time, he adopted guiding principle of 'Minimum Government and Maximum Governance' and also rationalisation with a commitment to bring a change in the work culture and style of governance. It is a good beginning in transforming entity of assembled ministries to organic ministries. It will bring more coordination between different departments, will be more effective and bring a speed in process," the statement said.

Elaborating further, the statement confirmed one Cabinet minister will head a cluster of related ministries. "The focus is on convergence in the activities of various ministries where one Cabinet minister will be heading a cluster of ministries who are working in complementary sectors," it said. The guiding philosophy is to cut the top layers while expanding the government at levels where it interacted with people.

"Mr Modi is eventually aiming at smart governance where the top layers of government will be downsized and there would be expansion at the grassroots level," the Gujarat government statement said. Things are going to be different this time around, starting with ministry formation, the statement appeared to suggest.

"Shri Narendra Modi is aware of the high expectations of the people. For whole four days, he was busy with the formation of ministry and discussing various alternatives to effective governance, convergence and coordination between various ministries. Earlier, there was political instability and multi-party governments, the ministry formation was almost done in a bifurcated manner."

The statement came at the end of a long, and for those hoping to get into the Cabinet, an anxious weekend. Indeed, Sunday was unlike any other swearing-in eve that Delhi has witnessed in a long time. Nobody, not even the Cabinet ministers who will be sworn in on Monday evening, knew whether they were in or out. Even those who knew for sure that they would get a Cabinet berth did not know what their portfolios would be. Top leaders spent most of Sunday anxiously waiting for the vital call from the office of the PM-designate.

The process of government formation officially begins with the PM designate's letter to the President containing the list of names of the council of ministers, after the would-be ministers are informed. A copy of this list goes to the Cabinet secretary, who officially writes to those who figure in the letter submitted by the PM-elect. But there were no calls and the Cabinet secretariat did not receive the letter when ET went to press on Sunday night. Since the swearing-in is scheduled for Monday evening, the suspense could last a while.

Some news does appear to have leaked out. Sources in Shiv Sena and Akali Dal said they had been allotted one representative each in the Cabinet. Anant Geete is likely to represent Sena while Harsimrat Badal had been nominated by Akalis. Further, Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray has decided to attend the swearingin ceremony after a conversation with the BJP president. Singh has also told Thackeray that all allies would get Cabinet-level positions, said people aware of the conversation.

Thackeray is earlier said to have considered skipping the ceremony in protest against the presence of the Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The total size of the council of ministers could be in the range of 35-40, comprising around 15 Cabinet ministers and over 20 ministers of state, according to sources in BJP. On Sunday, speculation on the fate of senior BJP leaders was on predictable lines.

Party president Rajnath Singh appeared to be the favourite for the no. 2 slot or the home ministry while speculation on Arun Jaitley centred on the key finance ministry or an expanded foreign affairs portfolio which could encompass areas that are currently being handled by the commerce ministry. Sushma Swaraj is said to be a contender for defence though lesser portfolios such as human resources development have also been mentioned for the leader of the Opposition in the outgoing Lok Sabha.

Former disinvestment minister Arun Shourie is also said to be in the running for finance ministry or the Planning Commission while former party president Nitin Gadkari could head a mega infrastructure development ministry which would include departments such as railways and surface transportation. Venkaiah Naidu could get rural development and Ananth Kumar may land parliamentary affairs, according to these sources.

TDP leader N Chandrababu Naidu met Modi on Sunday morning. But the leaders of his party, including ministerial aspirants, did not know what transpired or whether they would get the transport or agriculture portfolios they were asking for. The situation is dramatically different from the earlier NDA regime, when the Vajpayee government was dependent on the outside support offered by TDP and other allies. Now, the allies can only submit their wish list and wait for Modi's munificence.

Through the weekend, top leaders were angrily dismissing persistent queries or were simply not responding to phone calls. A front runner for one of the most important positions in the government even pondered issuing a formal denial that he was even interested in the position. Lesser leaders camping at the Bhawans (guest-houses of various state governments) were left hoping that Modi will remember them from past associations or an RSS leader would put in a good word from them. In groups, they were all glued to TV sets wishing that their names too may get 'flashed' as ministerial possibilities.

"The biggest contrast from earlier days is that now party leaders are wary of queuing up for favours. As for me, I only hope he remembers me. Nobody needs to introduce me to him, but he should remember me now," is how a middle-rung leader put it.